A NEW neighbourhood inspector with a background in managing police community support officers has been appointed for Mole Valley.

Neighbourhood inspector John Tadman, 46, started in his new role on May 13 and admits the job is one he has had his heart set on for a while.

He said: “I have always wanted to be a neighbourhood inspector and had spent two years at Guildford’s headquarters as a police community support officer manager where I was managing the team of PCSOs of which there are now 222 in the force.

“I am keen in this new role to encourage people to get to know their neighbours and if they are concerned about them, to get in touch with us.

“We have a high number of distraction burglaries in Leatherhead and Dorking areas so it is important for people, including the elderly and vulnerable, to get to know their local police officer or PCSO.

“I have committed myself to be in this post for a number of years and although it is early days I am looking forward to picking up from where my colleague left off and get the message across to the public that we are available when they need us.”

Inspector Tadman was born in Africa and is married with two teenage children.

He joined Surrey Police in 1979 and served for 10 years with the force’s CID team and was involved with major incident work.

He was promoted to sergeant and became a patrol sergeant, a role he performed for 12 years. He spent the past couple of years based in Guildford.

He added: “Neighbourhood inspector is a natural progression and it is my role to ensure that the force’s neighbourhood policing is successful and people get to know us.”